serout command

i am using the following command:

SEROUT PORTA.5, n300 ["hello",10,13]

im sending this value to the serial port on a compter (com1)
im then reading it via visual basic but even though i setup my program to read the com1 with no parity and 300 as the baud rate, it reads out as pure gibberish.

i have also tried it with hyperterminal but i get the exact same problem

anybody have any ideas how to read the data from the pic and convert to ascii?
or am i doing something wrong with the pic itself

btw, the pic in use is a 16f877

are you using a level converter or hooking the comport to the pic via a resistor? Level converters are normally used and invert the signal. The PC expects it to be inverted. If you are only using a resistor, you must tell the PIC to invert the data.